21st Century Policing Demands 21st Century Leadership
Police Leadership Resources, LLC
Providing leadership training, instruction, and consulting services to law enforcement agencies
and other organizations
About Us
Barry A. Reynolds
What we are doing now
Barry A. Reynolds
Owner, Police Leadership Resources, LLC
Over 35 years of experience in the policing profession
Founder and Director - Center for Excellence in Public Safety Leadership.
Former Senior Training Officer for Leadership and Management - Wisconsin Department of Justice
Author and conference presenter on policing, leadership, and organizational culture.
Author - Conference Presenter
Our Services
What we are doing now
Barry A. Reynolds
Since 2012, Police Leadership Resources has focused exclusively on the needs of the policing profession
Utilizing a unique combination of training in personal leadership skills and behavioral science theory, we help build stronger leaders, teams, and organizations.
Our services include conference presentations, keynote speaking, a variety
Since 2012, Police Leadership Resources has focused exclusively on the needs of the policing profession
Utilizing a unique combination of training in personal leadership skills and behavioral science theory, we help build stronger leaders, teams, and organizations.
Our services include conference presentations, keynote speaking, a variety of leadership training sessions tailored specifically to the needs of our clients, and specialized program development.
What we are doing now
What we are doing now
See what we are doing on Police 1
Senior Columnist, Police1.com
"Leadership, Management and Policing"
Opening Keynote - California Peace Officers Association
Creator and Co-Author of Vision 2029 - Policing in the Next Decade and Beyond
Presenter - Georgia Chiefs of Police Association
Senior Columnist, Police1.com
"Leadership, Management and Policing"
Opening Keynote - California Peace Officers Association
Creator and Co-Author of Vision 2029 - Policing in the Next Decade and Beyond
Presenter - Georgia Chiefs of Police Association
Over 50 state and national conference and training appearances, and 2000 instructional hours
Consultant - Public safety organizations, academic institutions, non-profits.
See what we are doing on Police 1
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
See what we are doing on Police 1
See our latest columns on Police 1
Read the article that started it all
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
Why Leadership Matters
(2012)
We are in a new era of professional law enforcement. We are on the cusp of something very exciting in the law enforcement profession and, perhaps unlike past era's, we have unique opportunities presented to us in the form of self-determination within our profession. Because of this we can set the course toward
Why Leadership Matters
(2012)
We are in a new era of professional law enforcement. We are on the cusp of something very exciting in the law enforcement profession and, perhaps unlike past era's, we have unique opportunities presented to us in the form of self-determination within our profession. Because of this we can set the course towards a new level of law enforcement leadership and professionalism. What does this mean? Well, for the future of our profession it could mean a great deal.
The struggle of law enforcement to reach the collective level of leadership and professionalism that we have today has been exactly that; a struggle. It hasn’t always been pretty, and it hasn’t been easy. The nature of what we do is to be reactive and to try to solve problems that already exist, rather than proactively trying to prevent even some of them. We can predict the probability of some crimes, but we cannot predict every crime, or when and where it will happen. In that sense we are very similar to most other businesses in this country. Businesses can predict market trends, but they can’t predict actual market events, they can only respond to them. We provide a service and we are beholden to the needs of our customers, which in this case are the citizens of our communities. But often it is when we start to look at the leadership and organizational development efforts of law enforcement agencies that we begin to see the differences between how we approach things and how the world of business approaches things. In that regard, we too often revert back to our natural instinct; we look at things that have already happened and then we try to understand and solve them.
This is the major difference between the pre-eminent view of leadership in law enforcement, and the view of leadership in the corporate world. We are content to look at what is, or what was, but we are unwilling to look at "what could be". If a corporation were to adopt that philosophy, they would soon find themselves looking up at their competitors, if they could even survive. The “what could be” represents the unknown, and represents risks, for which we in law enforcement have a natural aversion. Yet, just like the corporate world, if we don’t come to recognize the “what could be” and embrace it as the future of our profession, we are dooming the profession of law enforcement to a kind of "rolling stagnation", with our very existence guaranteed only because there is no equivalent with which to replace us.
One of the greatest challenges we face in our profession is the struggle to define ourselves to the public, our communities, and the citizens we serve. Community outreach efforts, social media, and night-out events have made this struggle easier as they have given us the avenues to use in creating and establishing relationships. We use these avenues for our self-promotion, and we hope that we are successful in establishing the goodwill and the community support that we may need to later draw upon at a time of crisis. Ironically, we play the risk-reward game, and we hope that somehow we are defined by the good things we have tried to do, and not the bad things that are sensationalized in media headlines.
The new era of professional law enforcement, however, requires more than just establishing outreach and creating goodwill. As we look ahead at the vision of this new era, we see a law enforcement profession that defines itself through visible leadership and ethical professionalism. In this new era we must shed our reactive nature which has too often allowed others to define our values by illustrating the worst examples they can find, and then to question our commitment to the values which we have sworn to uphold. Professional law enforcement must learn to define itself, to establish our professional vision in the hearts and minds of those that we serve, and to engage and reinforce that vision through excellence in organizational leadership. Wherever we fail to do so, our dedication to professionalism will be defined by others, and we will fail to achieve our desired transformation.
There are many reasons to be proud - extremely proud - of the honored status that American Law Enforcement holds today in our communities. What history has shown us, however, is that with each level of advancement towards professionalism in law enforcement comes an opportunity to reach out towards the “what could be” and define, for ourselves, a new era of law enforcement professionalism.
It will take great Leadership to get us to that next level.
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
A Networked Team of Law Enforcement Professionals
What makes Police Leadership Resources special?
Over the past 35 years we have built an unparalleled network of policing professionals, each with their own areas of expertise, and each with a shared passion for advancing the policing profession.
Want to learn more?
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The world of policing leadership is changing by the minute. We can help you stay ahead of the curve with cutting edge strategies and an unparalleled team of subject matter experts. Learn how we can help you navigate the challenges of 21st century policing
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Our vision statement
We will be a leading voice in the quest to advance the science and art of leadership, and leadership excellence, in law enforcement.
Leadership excellence represents the ultimate individual and collective commitment to achieving the ideals of true police professionalism.
Our success as leaders and police professionals will be determined by those with whom we invest the principle of leadership excellence, and who follow in our footsteps as the next generation of police leaders.
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All original content is owned by Police Leadership Resource Group, LLC. All Rights Reserved
Vision 2029 content and photo's owned by Cardinal Stritch University and may not be copied or used without permission.
